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It
has been reported that Miss Rickey conceived after having IVF, but it
is not clear whether they used an anonymous sperm donor or whether the
donor is known to the couple.

Yesterday,
neither Miss Portas, 51, or Miss Rickey, 38, a fashion journalist, were
available for comment. Miss Portas was previously married to chemical
engineer Graham Portas, with whom she has two children, Mylo, 18, and
16-year-old Verity.

Ball gown glamour: Actresses Gillian Anderson and Sophie Ward (R) both made an effort for the London event

They divorced in 2003 and the
following year she met Miss Rickey at a dinner held at the Royal College
of Art. They have been together ever since, and in 2010 publicly
affirmed their commitment in a civil partnership ceremony.

After
the party Miss Rickey wrote on her Twitter page: 'Well the Tatler
Lesbian Ball is brilliant, wall to wall lesbian fabulosity.'

Like Miss Portas, Sophie Ward – the daughter of actor Simon Ward – was also married before she met her female partner.

Supporting them: The X Files star clearly agrees with Tatler's views when it comes to lesbians in today's society

Not so girly: Nicola Formby and Anneka Rice (R) decided against wearing dresses

Ready for summer: Penny Smith and Amber Atherton (R) both showed off their legs in shorter print dresses

Her marriage to Paul Hobson, a vet and father of her two children, broke down in 1996 after she fell in love with American writer Miss Brannan. In 2000, she and Miss Brannan had an unofficial 'marriage' ceremony.

Miss Balding, the 41-year-old BBC sports presenter, and her partner Alice Arnold, 48, the Radio 4 newsreader, went public with their relationship in 2003 after attending the London premiere of horse-racing film Seabiscuit. They had a civil partnership ceremony in 2006.

After Thursday's party, Miss Balding tweeted: 'Utterly superb night at the Tatler Ball. Very glam, very class and apart from my feet hurting like hell from high heels, thoroughly enjoyable.

'My only regret – why did I shake Fiona Shaw's hand when she said goodbye? Why didn't I give her a hug? Am I a politician? NO.'

Miss Shaw, the acclaimed Irish actress, has been reported to have been in a relationship with the actress Saffron Burrows.

The party was hosted by Tatler editor Kate Reardon to coincide with the August issue of the magazine, which profiles a number of lesbians, including comedian and broadcaster Sue Perkins, environmental campaigner Tamsin Omond, actor and writer Emma Kennedy and model Eden Clark.

Miss Reardon said: 'What I hoped we achieved with this party was to begin to normalise lesbianism in “high society”. Last night was us saying, “This is it – we are crossing the Rubicon”.'